That's a very fair point.
It is curious how so many of those critical of this selection would have plumped for Cameron Smith instead - a superbly accomplished all-round footballer who does most things to a high standard but, rather like Sinfield, short of genius and a player perhaps better appreciated by those who acknowledge things other than "spectacular skills of evasion" or "breathtaking handling."
The main difference that I can detect between Smith and Sinfield is that, while both appear modest and charming off the field, the latter plays without that hint of smugness that some can see in the on-field play of the former.
Purely in terms of their athletic prowess and the range of their skills, Smith and Sinfield appear to me to be rather similar.
Having said all of that, I'd still rather have either Sam Burgess or Sam Tomkins as my England captain...
There is a lot of differences between Smith and Sinfield. For starters if Smith sees a gap he'll be through it, he has an edge on Sinfield for pace and getting an easy ten or fifteen metres without breaking a sweat he makes it look so easy. Then there is the amount of tackles Smith gets through, he gets through a similar level to James Roby, and how many times do people go on about the work rate of James Roby. Smith was also exceptional throughout the whole season, Sinfield had around 6 or 7 games where he had a similar impact to Smith on his side and on the game, fortunately for Kevin they were on the biggest stage that our country has too offer.
I honestly can't find a reason why you'd choose Sinfield over Smith. Let's say the NRL and SL are of a similar standard, Sinfield still hasn't done anything that Smith hasn't whilst you cant say it vice versa.
I'm not being anti Leeds also or anti England either. The amount of times I've said Hall is a class above any winger in the world or how Tomkins can cut it with the Aussie big names is many.
The comparision between Gerrard and Sinfield of their respective sports is probably fair. Both exceptional sportsmen within their game, but arnt quite good enough to hack it with the worlds best consistently. Gerrard has never been close to the Messi's, Ronaldos, Iniestas, Xavis or even the Ronaldinhos and Zidanes when Gerrard was classed as in his prime. Similar situation when Sinfield hasn't been close to the Smiths, Slaters and Inglis' of our game and because they are the same nationallity people use that as an excuse to say people are being bias. When in reality they're just being realistic.
I'm not going to say Sinfield hasn't played well this season as he obviously has guiding his team to the top, but IMO I just don't think you can create an argument to say he's better than Smith. If people can then ill be more than happy too debate it.
Edited by barrowraiderskid, 04 January 2013 - 09:05 PM.
